Of Old Pains and New Found Joy
by TunaForDesert
Summary: When Kise pushes his luck too far and Kuroko just couldn't take it anymore and lashed out. Luckily, Seirin is there to comfort their youngest. [Q227 FRUSTRATION'S LET OUT] Ignore the grammar mistakes. Sei needs a break from my horrible writing.


"Kurokocchii~~ don't go with Kagamicchii~! He will eat you up!" Kise whined with fake tears running down his cheeks.

Kuroko Tetsuya sighed. Let's rewind back. Kagami just asked Kuroko if he wanted to stay over since they needed to study for the mid-terms tests which was next week. Coach gave them a one week off starting tomorrow to study so they would not be banned from the club by school should they fail. Kagami told Kise who was visiting that Kuroko was staying over, and here we are now. Kise was getting on his nerves with his constant and loud wails. Kuroko was annoyed for a whole different reason than what his teammates currently thought. Kise was always annoying, but this time Kuroko just wanted to yell into Kise's face to wake the damned blond up. Who did he thought he was?

"Kise-kun, please stop."

"But-"

That was the last straw. Kuroko gave his former teammates a last chance but Kise did not register the coldness in Kuroko's voice, "Kise-kun, what I do with my life has nothing to do with you or the others. I can decide what I want without having you and the others nagging me. So please stop and let me go."

Kise stopped his wail. His eyes were wide in shock as he released Kuroko and stepped back a little. Seirin's members stopped one by one as they watched Kuroko glared –like, seriously glaring- at Kise.

"W-what are you saying Kurokocchii? Why are you so-"

"Cruel? Cold? Indifferent? Tactless? Why should I do that when you just-"

'_It's their fault for being so weak.'_

'_You can't blame us.'_

Kuroko took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm and cool. He was well aware of his teammates' stares at him and Kise. The blond looked ready to burst into tears too.

"Kurokocchii…" Kise whimpered.

The teal haired teen felt spiteful toward Kise now. No matter how childish and immature the blond might be but that was no excuse for his actions. Kise needed a wake-up call and Kuroko wanted to do that so badly but he didn't want his new teammates to see how petty he was being for something so trivial.

"Kurokocchii is not like this! Kurokocchii is warm and nice and blunt and…" Kise trailed off as he tried to wipe the tears in his eyes.

Kuroko felt like punching the blond.

"Kise-kun, I am grateful that you thought so highly of me."

Kise perked up in hope.

"But do you have any idea how I felt when you sauntered in to Seirin's gym and greeted me like nothing was wrong a few months ago?"

Kise's face fell and he suddenly felt scared of what Kuroko might say next.

"I really, really wanted to punch you in the face. How could you act like everything's fine when in reality I avoided you guys like plagues and I thought I made it clear that I hate you guys? Are you too stupid to notice how much I've been hurting those last few months at Teiko? Were you too blind to see how your words killed me from the inside?"

Seirin watched, shocked as Kuroko poured his heart out. Kuroko wanted to cry as he recalled how cold his Teiko teammates were, how they broke Ogiwara for their twisted logics but he would not let the world see him broke for the second time.

"I planned to quit basketball but…something made me go on and you should be grateful that I'm still standing on courts right now, because I was ready to leave everything behind including our bonds. I wanted to disappear forever and not letting you guys find me ever again. But…in the end I still love basketball when it's the very same thing that I hate at the same time."

"Kuroko…" Hyuga approached his junior. Kuroko snapped his head toward the senior, belatedly realizing that his voice had cracked in the end and now tears had gathered in his eyes though none had fallen yet. The blue haired teen turned his head to Kise. The blond was in disbelief and tears.

"And…I should be ashamed to admit this but I am not and proud to say it after all," Kuroko's eyes regained the warmth that Ogiwara would have cried for should he saw it.

"I love Seirin more than Teiko. I admit Teiko is the strongest, but Seirin is special. Seirin gave me happiness, brought me hope, and showered me with joy. I would trade it for Teiko anytime."

Kise fisted his palms, before he turned around and stormed out of Seirin's gym. Seirin was still dumbstruck. And Kuroko was trying to regain his composure. He had just told Kise what he longed to say. A fist was offered to him from the side. Kuroko looked at the owner who was grinning idiotically.

"I'll pull you out. I'll pull you out of that dark place and the others will be waiting for you and said what took you so long? After all, you've been a precious part and little brother of this huge chaotic family from the very moment you gave your form to Riko."

Kiyoshi gave him a bright grin as the other members mirrored it though some with less enthusiasm but not less warmth.

Kuroko blinked, before he gave a small smile and raised his fist to meet Kiyoshi's.

"Hai, senpai."

Just as Kiyoshi retracted his fist, two more were offered to him. Both the owners were blushing slightly as Kuroko blinked.

"Dammit, kid, you should be more open with us. Tell, no, yell out if you have to let someone know about what you are feeling," Hyuga said with a serious face as he adjusted his glasses repeatedly, clearly not used to saying emotional words.

Kagami had a ferocious look on his face, "Next time you don't want one of those Miracles bastards bothering you, give me the word and I'll beat their asses to the ground. Not in basketball, but with my fist."

Kuroko grinned, a small grin that made the members of Seirin felt like they had just accomplished something almost impossible.

"Thanks."

Twin fists met two bigger ones.

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End.

**A/N**: Have you guys read Q227? Huh? Have you? Have you? I hate GOM so much right now omfg. And when I recalled first episode of the anime I felt like punching Kise in the face. How could he act like everything's fine and dandy? The bastard… And Kuroko clearly wanted to say that to Kise's face too.

[Ignore me. In the end I'm just spouting nonsense.]

This is not beta-ed. I don't want to bother my beta-reader and this is just a quickie anyway. I fell in love with Seirin more and more, btw.

* * *

黒子のバスケ © Fujimaki Tadatoshi


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